Bittersweet
by Thirteenth-Spider
Summary: A fouryear old's promise: Look, if you manage to defeat me in judo, I promise I'll give you chocolates for Valentines Day, ok?


**Bittersweet**

_Author's notes: Before you give up on me, saying "ewww... isn't it Ichigo and Rukia, and Orihime and Inoue?", stop. First of all, it's Ichigo and Orihime resisting urge to bash Rukia.. hahahaha... and let's just say that I also acknowledge the fact that Ichigo has known Tatsuki longer than the other girls. End of explanation. Just give this story a try._

**Eleven Years Ago: February 14**

Four year-old Arisawa Tatsuki was already a block away from the dojo when she heard a familiar voice call her name. "Tatsuki-chan! Tatsuki-chan!" Running after her was Kurosaki Ichigo, who was carrying a small pink box. "Tatsuki-chan! Wait up!"

Tatsuki faced him, looking extremely annoyed. "If you're going to ask me to train you so that you can win the next match then forget it, Ichigo," she said rashly.

Ichigo shook his head wildly. "It's not that, Tatsuki-chan," He handed her the box he was holding. "Here!" He grinned, as if he were expecting something really good to happen. Tatsuki ripped off the wrapper from the box and opened it. Inside were chocolates shaped like a worm with spikes growing from its back. It even had eyes and looked very happy. Tatsuki took a bite from one of the chocolate creatures. It was smooth and creamy, and tasted very sweet. She nodded in approval.

"Happy Valentines Day, Tatsuki-chan!" Ichigo greeted. Tatsuki's mouth gaped open as she heard this, dropping a half-eaten chocolate creature.

She then punched Ichigo on the face. "Why the hell are you giving me chocolates on Valentines Day, you idiot!" she asked.

"B-but..." Ichigo sobbed. "I really like Tatsuki-chan." Ichigo wiped his tears on his sleeves. "Tatsuki-chan's cute, and kind, and really, really strong. Tatsuki-chan can protect anything, like those knights on Mommy's bedtime stories!" Ichigo grinned when he said the part about the knights.

Tatsuki, on the other hand, got more annoyed. "Knight? Protection? Ichigo, you're a guy! Guys don't go look for knights and give chocolates on Valentines Day!"

Ichigo looked like he was going to cry again. "But Mommy told me it was ok," he said. "She even helped me make the chocolates look like dragons since she said your name had the kanji for dragon in it." Ichigo's mother was waving at them and was standing just a few meters away, so Tatsuki did not make a comment on about how the chocolates did not look like anything like a dragon. Instead she just took it out on Ichigo. She was going to punch him again but changed her mind at the last minute.

She instead, flicked his nose. "Look, Ichigo, if it really is so important to you then I'll take this." She patted the box of chocolates. "But next year, don't give me chocolates, ok?"

"Waaah! Tatsuki-chan doesn't like me!" Ichigo bawled. He sat down on the cold pavement and cried.

"It's not like that, Ichigo!" she said, waving her hands wildly. She blushed when she saw his mother smile at him. "It's because... because... you're a guy!"

"I don't care!" Ichigo pouted. "I like Tatsuki-chan!"

"I know you do!" Tatsuki exclaimed, blushing even more. "But my mommy said that boys were born to protect the ones they love, not the other way around! If you're really a boy, then prove it! Be strong enough to protect... to protect... to protect the one you love!" Ichigo looked up to Tatsuki as he heard this. From that angle, four year old Arisawa Tatsuki seemed stronger than before, but it also made her seem unreachable.

Even so, Ichigo decided not to give up. He stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. "So, does that mean that Tatsuki-chan likes me?"

Tatsuki sighed in defeat. "If you manage to defeat me in judo, then I promise that I'll give you chocolates for Valentines, ok?"

"Then you do like me!"

"No, it just means that I'll give you chocolates on Valentines Day."

That answer seemed to satisfy Ichigo. "Ok!" he said, grinning widely again.

Tatsuki turned her back at Ichigo, not wanting to blurt out that she liked him when he smiled like that. "Tell your mother," she said, trying to sound calm. "Tell her that the chocolates were delicious."

Ichigo nodded and ran off to o so. Tatsuki looked back, smiled, and continued to walk back home.

k.n.i.g.h.t. a.n.d. d.r.a.g.o.n.>  
i.n.t.e.r.m.i.s.s.i.o.n>

**Present: February 14**

Tatsuki hid behind Ichigo's locker, thinking about whether she should continue with it or not. Ichigo was assigned to cleaning duty so she still had some time, even if it was already an hour after classes. She walked towards Ichigo's locker, took a deep breath, was about to put her present in, shook her head and went back into hiding. "It's not like I like him," she told herself. "It's just that it's awkward to give this when it's more than five years late." She sat down and thought about it some more. Finally, she decided to just leave without giving it to him. "I don't think he'll remember something that happened long ago," she reasoned out with herself. She stood up and brushed the dust off her skirt.

"Tatsuki?" Ichigo called, having just finished cleaning the classroom. "What are you doing here this late?"

She took a deep breath and tried to look calm. She walked briskly towards Ichigo and shoved the box towards him. "Here," she said gruffly. "Orihime wanted me to give you this." She scowled before she left.

Ichigo took the box and looked at it for a while. It was small, and pink, and was kept closed by a thin red ribbon. It looked almost the same as... "This isn't from Inoue," Ichigo commented.

Tatsuki stopped on her tracks. "I'm just fulfilling the promise I made when we were kids, is that so wrong?" she said defensively. She looked back and saw that Ichigo was smiling. It wasn't the same goofy smile he had when they were kids, but still, he was smiling. He walked towards her and bowed deeply, like someone defeated in judo. "Thanks, Tatsuki."

Tatsuki flicked his nose to make him stand up straight again. She stood on her toes to look him in the eye. There were lots of things she wanted to tell him, but only a few words escaped her lips. "Tomorrow, arcade, I am so gonna kick your ass."

He smirked. "We'll see about that," he said cockily. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow at him. She gave him a light punch on the chest before she ran off, leaving Ichigo with his present.

He gently untied the ribbon and popped a chocolate into his mouth. It was smooth and creamy, but it was also hard and seemed to have been left over the fire for too long. That gave the chocolate a certain flavor, bittersweet. Ichigo was about to eat another one when he realized what the chocolates were shaped like. "Tatsuki-chan," he sighed, "how many times must I tell you that my name does not mean strawberries?"

k.n.i.g.h.t. a.n.d. d.r.a.g.o.n.>  
i.c.h.i.g.o. t.a.t.s.u.k.i.>  
b.i.t.t.e.r.s.w.e.e.t>  
** e.n.d.>**

_08/03/06_

_Author's notes:_

_Chapter 12.5. Haven't read it yet, but my friend told me about it. You probably know that Ichigo and Tatsuki were classmates in judo when they were kids. And you probably know that Tatsuki beats the crap out of him all the time. That was until Ichigo managed to beat her after his mother died. That was also the time he stopped calling her "Tatsuki-chan". Tatsuki can still beat him in the arcade, though._

_Tatsuki's name has the kanji for dragon in it. Tatsuki signs her name in hiragana since she says that her name in kanji does not look cute. Ichigo's name does not mean strawberries, and is instead written with the kanji for "ichi" meaning one, and whatever that "go" kanji means. According to Ikkaku in their first battle, people with the kanji "ichi" in their name are often powerful and talented. The collective meaning of the name Ichigo is "to protect one thing."_


End file.
